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The November monthly contest had 152 entries submitted. Shawnee Mission East High School received the most awards, earning six total. Blue Valley Northwest and Mill Valley High School were right behind them with six awards each.

Video

• 1st Place: Dylan Christopher, Gavin Metts, Myles Bowers from Maize Career Academy 
• 2nd Place: Maggie Klumpp, Roberto Galicia from Shawnee Mission East High School 
• 3rd Place: Jamari Smith, Josh King from Lawrence High School 

News Page Design

1st Place: Celia Condon from Shawnee Mission East High School

2nd Place: Ayesha Khan from Blue Valley High School

3rd Place: Sabrina San Agustin from Blue Valley Northwest High School

Academics Photography

• 1st Place: Aubrey Beashore from Mill Valley High School

Working as a team, seniors Jack Brown, Soledad Stevanov and Quinn Franken look for specific bugs and organisms on a waterproof pad at Shawnee Mission Lake Friday, Oct. 8. Students in the Environmental Resources and Wildlife Sciences class collected plant and bug samples in order to study environmental effects on growth rates. “It was really fun. I thought we were going to be there longer but we were only there for ten minutes,” Stevanov said. “We were collecting plant samples to put in our aquaponics lab to reharvest.”

• 2nd Place: Lissy Fahlstrom from Bishop Miege High School

In a mental health club meeting, juniors Gavin Mannabauch and Jack Elder laugh as other members of the club share the best and worst parts of their day. The mental health club is a newly developed club created by senior Eve Waris and supervised by junior theology teacher Mr. Dessert. “My favorite part of mental health club is the community and welcoming atmosphere and how accepting and kind everyone in the club is,” Elder said.

• 3rd Place: Kathryn Vizcarra from Blue Valley West High School

Friction creates heat. Using a grinding tool to remove corrosion from a piece of metal for a car axle, senior Bart Donaldson works at the Center for Academic and Professional Studies. Donaldson spent his last two hours at CAPS instead of taking traditional classes. “I miss being at West sometimes but it is really fun to actually work like a real mechanic,” Donaldson said.

News Writing

• 1st Place: Emma Smith from Blue Valley Southwest High School 
• 2nd Place: Macy Kennedy from Blue Valley Southwest High School 
• 3rd Place: Perrin Goulter from Lawrence High School 

Photo Illustration

1st Place: Alena Gillespie, Mary-Kathryn Wert from Bishop Miege High School

2nd Place: Alexis Baty from Maize Career Academy

3rd Place: Julia Shumaker from Mill Valley High School

Sports Writing

• 1st Place: Justin Carlson, Eli Mcdaniel, Lauren Schutter from Wabaunsee High School 
• 2nd Place: Staff from Blue Valley High School 
• 3rd Place: Jack Nitz from Blue Valley Northwest High School 

Sports Photography

• 1st Place: Addi Smith from Blue Valley Northwest High School

Senior Kay Kay Winn falls to the ground as juniors Samantha Herpich and Julie Griggs tug on her sweatshirt instead of the flag in the annual Powderpuff flag football game. The game was set up as juniors vs. seniors of dance and cheer where the seniors won 24-0.

• 2nd Place: Rebecca Davis from Eisenhower Middle School – USD 480

The eighth-grade Warriors face their cross-town rivals on October 14, 2021, on the Redskin Football Field to obtain the coveted win. The team wasn’t doing so well as they started to fall behind; Easton Cooley came in for a fantastic tackle closing even though they barely lost against the Apaches. “My favorite part of the game was playing against our rival team,” said Easton Cooley (8). Photo taken by: Rebecca Davis (7).

• Third Place: Rachel Bingham from Shawnee Mission East High School

Freshman Kate Bowling and the BVNW cheer team won state Nov. 20. “I felt super relieved and I’m still super excited to this day,” Bowling said. “Words can’t explain the amount of happiness I felt, but when we won I had felt a big weight lift off my shoulder.”

Infographics

• 1st Place: Peyton Moore from Shawnee Mission East High School

• 2nd Place: Mary-Kathryn Wert from Bishop Miege High School

• 3rd Place: Chloe Miller from Mill Valley High School

Multimedia Storytelling

• 1st Place: JagWire Staff from Mill Valley High School 
• 2nd Place: Mill Valley News Staff from Mill Valley High School 
• 3rd Place: Kenna McNally, Addie London from Lawrence High School 

Yearbook Layout

• 1st Place: Danie Eaves from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

• 2nd Place: Sophia Rose, Raegan Tausz from Blue Valley Southwest High School

• 3rd Place: Dayanara Gutierrez, Danie Eaves from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Yearbook Copy

• 1st Place: Maddy Graff from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School 
• 2nd Place: Sophia Rose from Blue Valley Southwest High School 
• 3rd Place: No award given

Portrait

1st Place: Megan Proberts from Olathe South High School

During the production of Seussical the Musical, senior Raleigh Jonas auctions off Horton the Elephant while playing The Cat in the Hat. Jonas took on the roles of both the auctioneer and the buyer. “The auction scene was not scripted. Mr. Hastings gave me full reign to do whatever I wanted, and the entire scene was improved on the spot,” Jonas said.

2nd Place: Teryn DeBey from Shawnee Mission North High School

Modeling clothes styled by senior Meena Pittman, senior Naomi Hart marches the runway at the SM North Rose Garden Fashion Show along with 27 other models. While walking past the crowd of 200 people watching, to stay centered and calm she thought up a song to herself in her head. “It was a lot of nervous energy at the show, but most of us were really excited,” Hart said. “I was thinking the entire time ‘just don’t let the crown slip,’ and ‘just keep walking, don’t trip and you’ll be fine.”

3rd Place: Anna Kratochvil from Blue Valley West High School

Hail the King. Performing a monologue during the final dress rehearsal of Macbeth on Nov. 17, junior Jake Barton basks in the spotlight. As the lead character in the Shakespearean drama, Barton was often on stage alone reciting long emotional lines. “I never dreamed I get to be in a show like this, let alone have the lead,” Barton said. “This role transformed me.”

Feature Writing

• 1st Place: Campbell Wood from Shawnee Mission East High School 
• 2nd Place: Lucy Halverson, Lindsay Maresh from Blue Valley Northwest High School 
• 3rd Place: Reagan King, Alyssa Gagnon from Blue Valley Northwest High School 

Student Life Photography

1st Place: Logan Kraft from Olathe West High School

Senior Lexie Eckles stars in the Spongebob musical as Patrick Star. In this scene of the Spongebob musical, Patrick misses Spongebob after their falling out, then Patrick decides to leave his life as a guru and his followers behind.

2nd Place: Logan Brucker from Blue Valley Southwest High School

Reading a letter from her husband, Lady Macbeth, played by senior Kyra Tatge, describes Macbeth’s encounter with three witches. The theatre department performed “Macbeth” on Nov. 18-20 in the Performing Arts Center.

3rd Place: Macy Crosser from Shawnee Mission East High School

Senior Maggie Merckens and Hannah Geffert draw and fill in the yellow smiley face on the windows next to the main staircase for the Sources of Strength mural to raise awareness for mental health.

Opinion Writing

• 1st Place: Alyssa Boos from Seaman High School 
• 2nd Place: Izak Zeller from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School 
• 3rd Place: Addie London from Lawrence High School